Down to Earth
by Runi-chan
Summary: On an unplanned stop, the Doctor runs across quite a remarkable new friend. Dr. WhoxWall-E crossover. Spoilers for both. Enjoy!


Oh, Dr. Who. You are the source of my joy and my pain. But all things in their time, I suppose.

I got this idea randomly the other day and it would not leave me alone until I wrote it down. Enjoy!

I own none of the intellectual properties contained in this story. I'm just a silly fan.

Summary: On an unplanned stop, the Doctor runs across quite a remarkable new friend. Dr. WhoxWall-E crossover. Spoilers for both. Enjoy!

* * *

The Doctor opened the door of the Tardis to a wholly unfamiliar place. This earth, whenever it was, was covered with trash--towers of it, compressed into small cubes and built up, one by one. He coughed slightly in the rank, dusty air, and dusted the shoulders of his trench coat.

It seemed to be New York City--or was it London? Los Angeles? He sighed in disgust, ruffling his shock of hair and observing the land around him. Amongst the dingy, bled together piles of trash, pristine holograms boasted in bright blue and red, "BUY BNL!". Everywhere he looked, the logo was all he saw. A dozen posters, plastered on various walls, proclaimed the innovation of the "Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class". As he wandered the streets (always one for exploring when danger did not threaten the 'unexpected stops' along the way), it became increasingly apparent that no one, not a single soul was left on earth.

A dark twinge of sadness ran through him momentarily--for the sorry state of health and disrepair the people had left the planet in, to just being alone. The more he saw the "Buy and Large" logo, the more claustrophobic he felt. And it was quiet...ungodly quiet. Nothing moved, nothing shifted--there was no sign of the robots guarenteed to clean up the mess, nor the humans who were supposed to have returned. The time lord gazed at the looping bilboard, proclaiming there was "plenty of space...in space", and that the clean up would take a short amount of time. Judging by the static and quality of the playback, it'd be been far longer than the citizens had ever expected.

Then suddenly, in the quiet, the sound of treads crunching over 'leaves' (really just trash, as trees hadn't and wouldn't have grown for centuries). The Doctor turned, coming into eye contact with a small, trembling robot. It stared up at him with curious optics, afraid of what it was seeing. The Doctor smiled and knelt down.

"Oh now, that's alright, I'm just visiting. Don't worry--I won't harm you."

The little robot cooed--his audio replacement for a smile, as his 'eyes' seemed to smile along. Always curious, the Doctor continued on.

"What do you do?"

The small thing pointed a hinged hand at the poster, and then to the base of his 'chassis'.

"Oh, you're a trash compactor! Very nice! Though...," as he looked around, the Doctor noticed with a feeling of slight sickness that indeed many of the rusting debris around them were similar units who had simply stopped working.

"You're the last one, aren't you?"

The robot's optics dipped, and he cooed sadly. The Doctor knelt in the dust and the dirt, and patted the little box.

"That's alright, 'cause so am I. I'm the Doctor. What's your name?"

The robot stumbled over it a few times, glancing up and seeming to ask with its eyes, "Do I have to?".

"Wa---w, wa, Waaalll-Ee."

If it was possibly for any sort of being to literally melt on the spot, the Doctor did so. A wide grin stretched across the face that only hours prior had been set in a grim line, uncertain of what to do next, now that his friends had all moved on.

"Oh, you are too cute! Listen, I can't stay long," (At this, Wall-E's expression saddened), "but..but...oh, what could it hurt? Do you mind if I look around a little while?"

Wall-E nodded ferverntly, making soft noises indicating his approval. The robot stretched a hinged 'hand' up and tugged at the trench, and pointed in the distance.

"Is that your home?"

"Uh-huh"

The Doctor smiled. Absently, he thought of companions past, and how Donna would have found his cooing over an artificial life form ridiculous. Martha would have been confused, Rose would have...

Rose would have been right there with him. He swallowed firmly and followed the little robot out.

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The more that he walked, the better scope of things the Doctor understood. This was programmed into the little machine, that every day it would awaken, do its tasks for however many hours, and then return to a central base to charge. These were basics. Wall-E, however, seemed to have..changed. It...no, he. He eagerly showed off his 'finds' of the day, taking pride in their variety.  
Most important, the Doctor noticed as he stopped in the distribution van for the small robots, was a cherished tape (tape, not a disc!) of "Hello Dolly". The tape was worn and prone to skip over most of the movie, but Wall-E still watched it religiously. A dust storm barrelled through and rocked the van. The Doctor took it that this happened quite often, as the little robot panicked to shut the rear door.  
A comfortingly strange variety of things were organized on 'shelves' within this truck, and the Doctor smiled. So Asimov had been close. But hell, even Time Lords couldn't define "True" humanity (after all, they themselves were only humanoid, not human), so who was to say a consciousness, a soul--couldn't develop? Then suddenly, among the soiled, old remnants of an earth past...a smooth white curve. The Doctor cocked his head, curious. Wall-E noticed, and soon was standing in front of the item with the smooth, clean white curve. The Doctor looked closer--it belonged to a small robot (about Wall-E's size, who came up to about his waist), whose optic screen was blank. It was like a floating egg, stark white but for the rhythmic flashing of a green leaf.

Wall-E pushed the Doctor away, insistent that he not touch it. He made a low, aggressive noise, and then turned to make sure the thing was alright.

"Is it...broken?"

"Ahh...." Wall-E cooed softly, then his optics sank. The Doctor retreived his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and (after proving to Wall-E it did not harm anything), scanned the item. An Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator. For finding evidence of surviving plant life. Eve. The name made him smile. But he could do nothing to wake her up, as saddened as Wall-E seemed.

"Eve-a. Eeeva," Wall-E pointed to the green flashing leaf, "dirr-d-directif." The small a.i. seemed genuinely upset, and quite head over heels for this other robot.

"Ah, so that's it. She'll be okay, I promise. But," the Doctor leaned forward, "don't leave her behind," (here the time lord smiled).

Wall-E nodded, a happy note in his beeping.

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Night fell quickly and cold on this new earth, and the Doctor found it best to leave while he wasn't struggling to open the Tardis door. He bade goodbye to the small robot (destined for big things), and the TARDIS was soon standing in front of him. Wall-E looked at the tall blue box with a child's curiousity, and seemed to not be able to help himself--he wheeled around the box several times. Wall-E prodded the wooden exterior, surprised when a low hum sounded from within. The Doctor laughed.

"Careful!"

The time lord was two steps inside his machine, and he looked out at the world. No oceans, no human life and yet...things were growing. There was hope. Thin and small and shaking, but there. The Doctor watched as the robot (alone, but not really) waved to him from the small van platform.

"Never let her go, you hear me?" the time lord called, smiling.

The Doctor waved as the TARDIS disappeared into the air. The hum of the engines once again filled his ears. He looked at the core, thoughts wandering. Gallifreyan speech trickled across his mind--the TARDIS was concerned.

"No, no, I'm fine. Keep the course".

A sheaf of paper lay scattered across the floor (from his absent composing). The Doctor grabbed a spare charcoal pencil and began to sketch. Slowly, the lines began to show the tiny robot side by side with his "Eeva", in a happier place than a barren earth. He began to work on the two holding 'hands' (he had noticed Wall-E tenderly holding his own hands together as the movie had played), but could not bring himself to finish it for a moment. His thoughts flashed to Rose, and his breath caught.

Really, he did have to work on getting past that.


End file.
